Child Protection Advocate

An Inspiring Story

Last week, I attended a luncheon featuring director/screenwriter Chris Gavagan. He is in the process of completing his documentary, “Coached Into Silence,” which features his own survival journey after years of child sexual abuse perpetrated by a hockey coach when Gavagan was a teen. He vowed never to tell anyone about the abuse, but confessed it to his mother years after the abuse ended when she came across a Sports Illustrated Magazine he had saved that featured a professional hockey player disclosing his own abuse by a coach. His story has many lessons we can all learn from. One of the most important is how critical it can be to a survivor of abuse to learn of others who have survived and disclosed the abuse. Many survivors say they disclosed only because someone else’s strength allowed them to find their own. Please see more about Chris Gavagan’s journey and his documentary at the film’s website at http://bit.ly/19PaTMc Who knows how many other survivors will be inspired by Chris’ own show of strength?